Press Coverage from Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007
Clapton: Chicago is modern blues central
By Greg Kot
Tribune music critic
July 27, 2007
When he was just a directionless teenager at Kingston Art School in England during the early '60s, Eric Clapton began a passionate love affair with Chicago blues. So it's only fitting that he returns to his spiritual birthplace as an artist to host his second Crossroads Guitar Festival on Saturday. The festival will benefit Clapton's pet charity: the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a clinic for the chemically dependent. It will feature 22 artists and bands, including Jeff Beck, the Band's Robbie Robertson, and a reunion with Steve Winwood, Clapton's partner in the short-lived '60s super-group Blind Faith.
A few minutes after a rehearsal this week, Clapton sat down for an interview with the Tribune. The bespectacled guitarist was in a garrulous mood, clearly thrilled at the prospect of sharing the stage this weekend with some of his boyhood heroes, including Buddy Guy and Hubert Sumlin.
Kot: Why Chicago?
Clapton: Chicago is central. It also has the added benefit of being the birthplace of modern blues. It came up from the South, and the good stuff that I was listening to was coming out of Chicago. For me it had a certain resonance.
Q. When you were listening to those classic Chicago blues records as a teenager, did you have a mental picture of what Chicago was like?
A. A certain amount of image was created by the guys themselves. It was well known there were these clubs called Smitty's and Pepper's Lounge and the South Side of Chicago was the hot place to be. Needless to say, where I came from, we didn't get the full picture, the harsher aspects of it. It seemed incredibly romantic, gangster-ish and exciting. ... It became the place I wanted to go to as a teenager. A lot of people would've liked to go to California, especially during the '60s when the love thing was going on. Even then, during the mid-'60s, I felt Chicago was the place to come to, musically, for me.
Kot: You have a blues holy trinity on this bill: B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Hubert Sumlin. But they're all very different stylists. What did you learn from each of them?
Clapton: The first one who got to me was Hubert, by virtue of having the earlier records on Chess that Howlin' Wolf made, which Hubert was on. I'd never heard anything like that kind of guitar playing before. It seemed to me almost impossible to define how he was getting those effects. Buddy later came to London and I saw him play live, and got a whole other take of what Chicago blues was like live, and what kind of guitar player he was. B.B., I got to later on. When I first heard him, for my taste it was a little bit too homogenized, it was commercial blues. He was coming from a whole other area: T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner, and Louis Jordan. I hadn't figured out how to get to Louis Jordan. I only got there later in my life, and began to understand where that sat in the history of it all.
Q. Did you have any sense of competition or rivalry with your peers on the British scene?
A. I only got to know two or three guys that play that style. There was Peter Green, and I can't think of anyone else who played from the same origin, same root of influence as I did. The other guys mentioned -- like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page -- were much more from a rockabilly sensibility. There were very few people drawn to Chicago blues and country blues the way I was, and Peter Green was. I suppose because we were so rare, there wasn't a rivalry. It was more of a nurturing.
Q. Cream was about three guys pushing each other, and the "Layla" sessions were about you and Duane Allman pushing each other. Was there ever a time where you were pushed further than you wanted to be?
A. Yeah, and it's a funny one, too. In the '60s and '70s they set about to make these sort of super jams. There was one [in the late '60s] you can see on YouTube -- I think where Buddy [Guy] was in town, Buddy Miles was in town, and someone had this idea we should do this super jam. I think Jack [Bruce] was on bass. And Rahsaan Roland Kirk was there. I'd seen him play many times, but I'd never been on stage with him, and I was very intimidated, because I knew he was a fairly aggressive guy, and someone said, what are we going to play? And I just hopefully threw out, "Let's play a blues." Figuring I'd be safe. And Roland Kirk says, "OK," and [counts down very fast]. I didn't realize that blues can be any tempo, and it was horrendous. I had nothing to do. It was taken far beyond my capabilities. There was this square-off going on. Roland was happy playing the groove, but something started up between the two Buddys, and all hell broke loose, kind of seriously hostile. And I'm thinking, I wished I'd never come. The only time it's backfired and whoever thought it was a good idea, hadn't really done their homework.
Q. You've managed to get Robbie Robertson out of hiding this weekend. You went to play with The Band at their house in Woodstock in 1968. How did that go?
A. Robbie and I first met at a friend's house in [Los Angeles in the '60s], and I knew that I met someone that I would want to know through my life. He was a serious guy, a great musician. He was out there in some respect, and I wanted to be around him, and see what was going on. We went up there [to Woodstock, N.Y., where Robertson and the Band lived in 1968]. I met with the guys. They didn't play. They showed me around Big Pink, their clubhouse. Maybe they jammed a little bit, I don't think we did anything serious. It was more getting to know one another. And through the years Robbie and I have stayed in touch, and played on a few things. At one point we tried to collaborate to write in the early '90s. We spent a couple of months woodshedding; there are loose ends there. So Robbie coming to play is a good way for us to get in tune again.
Q. You brought Cream full circle [with the 2005 reunion tour]. Is there anything more going on with you and that band?
A I never close the door on anything. There is always going to be a valid reason to re-approach things, as long as everyone is alive. What if I went bankrupt and I was on the skids? I'd kind of hope that one of those two guys would say, "Let's put together a benefit for Eric."
Clapton's Crossroads: Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood soar, and B.B. King passes the torch to a new generation
Eric Clapton’s epic Crossroads Guitar Festival arrived Saturday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. The 11-hour festival, topped by Clapton, Steve Winwood, Jeff Beck and Robbie Robertson, presented 22 artists and bands in a benefit for Clapton’s Crossroads Centre for the chemically dependent in Antigua. Here’s a rundown of how it all went down:
11:50 a.m.: Host Bill Murray makes a prediction: “This is gonna be the greatest day in the history of Bridgeview.” He also dons a guitar and attempts to play the chords to Van Morrison’s “Gloria.” He is bailed out by Eric Clapton, who enters grinning in plaid shorts. The guitarist hints that today’s Crossroads may not be the last, even though he’s 62 and has said he’ll take a few years off to spend time with his wife and three young daughters. “I think there could be one more,” Clapton says.
12:15 p.m.: Sonny Landreth is a fine slide guitarist, but just as impressive is the rolling, born-on-the-bayou groove laid down by his rhythm section. When Clapton joins in, Landreth channels a leering Jerry Lee Lewis twang on “Hell at Home,” and the two guitarists go toe-to-toe, presaging a day of six-string extravagance.
12:47 p.m.: Former Mahavishnu Orchestra guitarist John McLaughin jumps into deep abstract waters with his quartet. They flicker around, and the arrangements sound episodic rather than fully formed. McLaughlin’s improvisations arrive in fleet-fingered spasms. When he finally does stretch out into a full-blown solo, he flies without breaking a sweat.
1:12 p.m.: Alison Krauss’ Union Station is best in its five-piece acoustic bluegrass incarnation. When it expands to a seven-piece electric band, it sounds like a middle-of-the-road snooze, though Jerry Douglas’ lap slide guitar solo on “Far Side Bank of Jordan” is worth waking up for.
1:30 p.m.: Doyle Bramhall II, a pretty fair Texas guitar-slinger, performs his entire set from the comfort of a chair. Nothing wrong with that, but the back-porch vibe is surprisingly sleepy.
2:12 p.m.: Susan Tedeschi joins the set by her husband, guitarist Derek Trucks, and steals it. She storms through Junior Wells’ “Little by Little” and then teams with vocalist Mike Mattison for a roaring duet on Derek and the Dominoes’ “Anyday,” with Trucks adding a wicked slide solo
2:25 p.m.: Johnny Winter looks feeble as he slouches in from the wings, and slumps into a chair in front of the Trucks band. But once the black-hatted guitarist starts playing, the frailty melts. He tears into Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61,” and dispenses with the original’s ebb-and-flow momentum in favor of fierce linear drive. Once Winter’s 10-minute cameo is over, however, it becomes official: We have now heard enough slide guitar to last us several months.
2:40 p.m.: Robert Randolph sure can play that pedal-steel guitar. He turns his vamps into rave-ups that rely almost entirely on Randolph’s eye-popping instrumental dexterity rather than his far more circumscribed chops as a songwriter.
3:20 p.m.: Robert Cray’s so smooth, it’s possible to miss the rough edges in his protest song, “Twenty”: “They call this a war on terror/But I see a lot of civilians dying/Mothers, sons, fathers and daughters/Not to mention some friends of mine.”
3:50 p.m.: Post-war blues great Hubert Sumlin looks spry in his fedora, and he pays tribute to his old mentor Howlin’ Wolf with his percussive attack and brittle tone intact on “Killing Floor” and “Sitting On Top Of the World.”
4 p.m.: B.B. King enters and Cray, Sumlin and Jimmie Vaughan all defer to the 81-year-old master. King is in a frisky mood, wiggling his hips on a body that was built for comfort rather than speed. He carries on an animated conversation with his faithful guitar, Lucille, each vocal couplet answered by a string of equally expressive notes. The guitarist never tried to be the fastest gun in the blues corral, and he lubricates “Rock Me Baby” by refusing to force the tempo. For all the smiles King brings to the stage, his words suggest he’s passing the torch. He lavishes Clapton with praise (“I’ve never met a better man, a more generous man”) and he toasts the audience: “When they lay me off to rest, may the last voices I hear be yours.” He brings a renewed bite to “The Thrill is Gone,” slapping his fist against his palm, more outraged than resigned. And then he walks off, amid hugs and tears.
4:52 p.m.: John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change” may be the most spineless social-justice song ever written. It advocates a passive approach, whereas the song it most closely resembles --- Curtis Mayfield’s classic “People Get Ready” --- urges everyone to get involved, or risk being left behind. Mayer pulls his punches throughout a set heavy on spongy pop songs, until finally cutting loose on Ray Charles “I Don’t Need No Doctor.”
5:46 p.m.: Impish, white-haired guitar guru Albert Lee joins Vince Gill’s 12-piece band for an arched-eyebrow take on Johnny Burnette’s rockabilly scorcher “Tear It Up.”
6:01 p.m.: Alison Krauss joins Sheryl Crow to ask the musical question, “Are you strong enough to be my man?” Clapton then shares a microphone with Crow on Don Williams’ “Tulsa Time.”
6:12 p.m.: Willie Nelson joins Gill and strings together several of his signature tunes (“Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Crazy,” “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”) while playing the heck out of Trigger, his beat-up acoustic guitar. Though still justly celebrated for the honeyed tone of his conversational baritone voice, Nelson is such a gifted improviser he makes even his most-established songs sound fresh.
6:45 p.m.: Los Lobos is in top form, but the sound is less than stellar for a four-song set that concludes with the sax-and-guitar blow-out “Mas y Mas.”
7:45 p.m.: With his black-and-white vest and rooster haircut, Jeff Beck seems timeless. And his guitar prowess with a heavy duty jazz-fusion quartet is just as immune to aging. Beck’s sharp, piercing tone is sometimes softened by a slide, which he uses to tap out a beautiful melody on the strings. For the finale, he re-creates the vocal lines and orchestrations of the Beatles “A Day in the Life” on guitar with just his finger-tips and a whammy bar. As usual, there are no special effects or foot pedals, just Beck communing with his strings.
8:20 p.m.: Clapton has given some indifferent concerts in the last decade, but this is not one of them. The main reason is that he has a band that isn’t afraid to challenge him, particularly guitarist Derek Trucks and drummer Steve Jordan, who rises out of his seat just about every time he swats the ride cymbal. Trucks does most of the heavy lifting on the solos, bringing muscle to “Tell the Truth” and nuance to George Harrison’s “Isn’t it a Pity.” Clapton goes face to face with his young protégé on “Why Does Love Got to be So Sad,” and opens and closes “Queen of Spades” with passionate improvisations.
9:10 p.m.: Former Band guitarist Robbie Robertson joins Clapton for a rare concert appearance. The bespectacled Robertson honors Bo Diddley with a growling “Who Do You Love” and trades solos with Clapton and Trucks on “Further On Up the Road.”
9:20 p.m.: Steve Winwood joins the festivities, and leaves an indelible mark. He and Clapton team up for several songs from their old, prematurely dissolved band Blind Faith. The two share pleading vocals on a gorgeous “Presence of the Lord” and Winwood spruces up his soul-singer credentials on “Can’t Find My Way Home.” Though more celebrated as a singer and keyboardist, Winwood is also mighty fine guitarist --- as he re-affirms on Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” Clapton returns to do the hackneyed “Cocaine,” but Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” remains a rock-solid finale.
10:20 p.m.: Buddy Guy rounds out the night with a set long on showmanship and short on actual songs. So what else is new? Guy remains an astonishing guitarist; in terms of sound shaping, only Beck rivals his audacity. He brings out Clapton, and Cray, Winter, Mayer and others take turns running “Sweet Home Chicago” into the ground. The last hour feels anticlimactic, but the glow of knockout performances by Winwood, Beck and B.B. King more than compensates.
Crossroads wrapup: Fest fit for a King
July 29, 2007
Bill Murray brought the laughs, and B.B. King took care of the tears. Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Jeff Beck and Steve Winwood kept stealing the show from one another. Robbie Robertson made a rare appearance. The rain stayed away. Presiding over it all was the Artist Formerly Known as God, Eric Clapton.
Clapton was raised to the level of a deity in ‘60s England, a label that he couldn’t possibly live up to. But Saturday’s epic Crossroads Guitar Festival at a sold-out Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., was one for the ages. Logistically, there were difficulties: food and water ran out at many concessions stands, and the sound cut in and out, sabotaging several performances. But as morning clouds gave way to a sun-splashed afternoon, conditions were ideal for the type of collaboration and cross-generational bonding that one rarely sees at more narrowly defined festivals: Sheryl Crow and Vince Gill with Willie Nelson, Crow with Alison Krauss, Robert Cray and Jimmie Vaughan with Hubert Sumlin, Sonny Landreth with Clapton, Johnny Winter with Trucks, and Buddy Guy and a cast of dozens for the encore.
Crossroads is an excuse for Clapton to gather some of his friends and favorite artists to play an 11-hour show for his pet charity, the Crossroads Centre for the chemically dependent in Antigua. The first gathering, in Dallas in 2004, produced a 4 million-selling DVD. This one was even better.
It had Murray, who served as comically genial emcee, cheerleader and budding guitar hack, attempting to play Van Morrison’s “Gloria” before a grinning Clapton took over. It had Tedeschi, who nearly upstaged a set by her husband, Trucks, with a two-song cameo that including a thundering version of Derek and the Dominoes’ “Anyday.” Trucks was a standout in a day of stellar guitarists; during Clapton’s set, he lifted every song to a higher plane with his passionate slide work, and wouldn’t let the band leader coast. Clapton took the challenge, slugging it out toe to toe with his young protégé on a towering “Why Does Love got to be so Sad.”
Robertson, who quit the Band and the road in 1976 and hasn’t played live much since, paid tribute to Bo Diddley by growling out “Who Do You Love.” But after jamming on “Further on up the Road,” Robertson exited, and it felt more like a missed opportunity than a triumphant return.
That was not the case with Winwood, who parted ways with the festival’s namesake in 1969 when Clapton abruptly quit the group they had formed, Blind Faith. The singer quickly re-established what had been lost. His soul-dipped vocals elevated “Presence of the Lord” and “Can’t Find My Way Home,” and his underrated guitar-playing came to the fore on a spiraling version of Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” Was it possible? A musician best known as a singer and keyboardist also walked away with the day’s best guitar solo?
Beck might have an argument with that. With his rooster hair and vest making him look as though he’d stepped out of a 1970 concert poster, the British virtuoso didn’t so much play his guitar as make it speak in tongues. His jazz-fusion quartet kept pace, particularly bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, who played with a confidence and panache that stamped her as a future star. Beck closed his set with a stunning reinvention of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” re-creating the elaborate vocal melodies and orchestrations with little more than six strings.
King gave what amounted to a farewell performance, and just about everyone in the place knew it. Clapton’s eyes glistened as the 81-year-old master performed. He playfully leered through “Rock Me Baby,” talking trash with his guitar, Lucille. Then he switched on the rage for a scarifying “The Thrill is Gone.” King raised a cup to his fans: “When they lay me off to rest, may the last voices I hear be yours.” Flanked by Cray, Vaughan and Sumlin, and with Clapton looking on from the wings, it was King’s moment and King’s show from then on.
greg@gregkot.com
Down to the Crossroads
Concert review | Eric Clapton and his legendary crew offer a treasure of blues
July 30, 2007
BY jjohnson@suntimes.com
When ax-wielding dinosaurs ruled the earth, bombastic equaled fantastic. Their kind mostly dropped and died with the evolution of the punks, new wavers and discomaniax, who didn't have the same skills but found their predecessors easy pickings because they'd become bloated and self-absorbed.
Those old-timers who survived did so by changing their ways or joining their rivals -- or, in a few special cases, by being so talented that the laws of evolution didn't apply. That last group, and their descendants, formed the nucleus of the lineup Saturday at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.
Unlike the crossroads in blues mythology where people sold their souls to the devil in return for special powers, the Crossroads festival is dedicated to saving lost souls. The 29,000 or so old-school music lovers who paid $90 to witness the 11-hour guitarathon not only heard some great music but also supported the Crossroads Centre Antigua, a chemical dependency facility founded by Clapton.
A guitar god who once had to exorcise a few demons of his own, Clapton not only organized his second Crossroads fest (the first was a three-day affair in Dallas in 2004) but also played a dazzling hour-and-45-minute set with his band.
Buddy Guy (left) prompts the crowd as he and Eric Clapton perform "Sweet Home Chicago" at the Crossroads Guitar Festival.
(AP) 
A highlight for the ages came when he called his old Blind Faith mate Steve Winwood onstage, where he moved adeptly between organ and guitar. It became obvious how much the short-lived supergroup was a Winwood vehicle when the pair worked through the band's repertoire with "Presence of the Lord," "Can't Find My Way Home" and "Had to Cry Today," with Winwood adding the favorites from his Traffic days. Clapton's band also teamed with the reclusive guitarist from the Band, Robbie Robertson, who dedicated "Who Do You Love" to the ailing Bo Diddley.
Kicking off the day at noon, Clapton sidled up to emcee Bill Murray as the Winnetka-reared comic actor tortured "the one song I know on the electric guitar ... 'Gloria.' " Clapton was visible throughout the fest, nodding approvingly from a vantage point just offstage, then jamming with several of his friends and former bandmates, including fest closer and Chicago blues kingpin Buddy Guy.
Clapton's reverence for the Delta-to-Chicago blues has been constant since his early days with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, and he featured three of his most significant influences, Guy, Hubert Sumlin and B.B. King, who at 81 was the day's oldest performer. King brought the house down as he joined Robert Cray's band for a three-tune miniset that closed with "The Thrill Is Gone."
Giving Guy the closing slot was an act of brilliance on Clapton's part. Guy was more than up to the task, with his showboating, mugging stage presence totally appropriate on this evening. He praised his host's charity work, stating, "If we had more people like him in the world, the world would be a better place; it's all about helping people." Then Guy and Clapton traded lightning-quick licks for a medley of "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Love Her With a Feeling," the kind of dirty, greasy blues that Clapton loved as an English teen. Guy called out, "Can we get some more players up here?" and John Mayer, Sumlin, Johnny Winter, Cray and Jimmie Vaughan answered the call for the obligatory "Sweet Home Chicago" and the closer, "She's Nineteen Years Old."
Cray, 50, and Vaughan, 56, represented the next generation of blues guitarists. Meanwhile Jeff Beck and John McLaughlin provided two very different examples of how the instrument has evolved. Beck, in particular, was a fan favorite, fronting yet another new quartet without missing a beat.
Murray, delightfully silly throughout the show in various characters, set up a countrified segment when, as a long-haired redneck, he demanded "a NASCAR moment right now." Out came Vince Gill and 10 sidekicks, who played countrypolitan with a kick, then supported Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson.
Finally, the two other guitarists from Clapton's band, Doyle Bramhall II and Derek Trucks, made the most of their solo sets. Trucks in particular was a revelation, playing blues-based music with sophisticated polyrhythms and inspired instrumentation.
Note: For those who couldn't get a ticket, a DVD will be available on Nov. 6.
Festival highlights
Best set: Eric Clapton
Who else? After lamenting that the reunited Cream was "too small" for Madison Square Garden in 2005, ol' Slow Hand has beefed up his touring band for a powerful wall of sound. And Steve Winwood and Robbie Robertson were icing on the cake.
Biggest surprise: Johnny Winter
The Great White Wonder had to be led onstage, but once he plugged in he cut loose with a scorching 10-minute version of Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited."
Most heartfelt moment
The warm embrace at center stage between Howlin' Wolf's guitarist Hubert Sumlin and B.B. King. Sumlin, 75, may have spent his career in the shadow of giants like the King of the Blues, but the stars know who the real players are.
Temporarily unsound
The sound system for Crossroads was amazingly clean, with a couple of exceptions. Alison Krauss and Union Station had to endure a constant snap, crackle and pop. And Vince Gill was a minute into his first number before somebody switched on the PA. Ever the trouper, he kept singing until it was fixed.
Sweet home ...
Emcee Bill Murray made great sport of the fact that the festival was taking place in Bridgeview, promising "the greatest day in the history of Bridgeview" and proclaiming the working-class southwest suburb "the home of the blues." He rattled off the town's virtues, including its proximity to Stickney and Calumet City.
Missed the memo
Women are often an afterthought in the testosterone-charged guitar crowd, but any "no women allowed" policy was waived for Alison Krauss (a welcome respite from the blues-rock assault), Susan Tedeschi (a superstar in waiting) and Sheryl Crow (last year's news).
Paradoxically
The festival benefitted a Clapton-founded detox facility, but there was a mixed message at best when he whipped the crowd into a frenzy with J.J. Cale's "Cocaine." Any purported anti-drug message in the song was clearly lost on the jubilant concertgoers.
Jeff Johnson
Clapton's Crossroads: Bridgeview concert masterfully mixes young talent, guitar legends
July 30, 2007
By Vickie Snow Staff writer
We went down to the Crossroads and fell down on our knees.
As the risin' sun was goin' down Saturday in Bridgeview, some 28,000 fans were worshipping guitar gods at the once-in-a-lifetime event that bridged age gaps, blended genres and reconfirmed Chicago's status as a music mecca.
Well, OK, the crowd at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival may not exactly have been kneeling at the feet of dozens of super-stellar pickers. And the most physically exertive part of the all-day fundraiser may have been navigating the stairs, blanketed soccer field and inadequate concessions at Toyota Park.
But plenty of worshipping went on indeed as Clapton and guests rolled out one amazing jam session after another at the second benefit for his Crossroads Center for chemical dependency in Antigua.
Hard-pressed to pick the highlights, Jeff Beck, Derek Trucks, Steve Winwood, Albert Lee and BB King would be the standouts.
For 11 hours, fans were left guessing who'd be next on stage and who'd join them. The spontaneous nature built excitement, particularly when Jimmie Vaughan joined the Robert Cray Band and when Clapton, Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson joined Vince Gill's big band.
Clapton also rescued Bill Murray as the actor attempted to play the riffs to "Gloria." Kicking off the concert at noon and donning various outrageous wigs when introducing the artists, Murray was a funny and fitting host.
Louisiana slide guitarist Sonny Landreth earned the opening slot, Clapton said, because he RSVP'd first. But many fans still were tailgating and roaming in from Guitar Village, a tented area with collectible guitars, when the two offered the first collaboration of the day on "Hell at Home."
Then things got lovely and angelic with singer/violinist Alison Krauss, a Champaign native who's earned more Grammy awards (20) than other female artist since landing a record deal at age 14.
Trucks (Allman Brothers Band) and his wife, guitarist/vocalist Susan Tedeschi, proved a powerful duo in a rousing tribute to Clapton's days with Derek and the Dominoes on "Anyday."
Appearing much older than his age of 63, Johnny Winter then joined in. He may walk slow and stiff, but give the tattooed axeman a chair and microphone, and he has no trouble taking a crowd down to Bob Dylan's "Highway 61."
As Trucks and Winter shook hands, fan Mark Rudinoff said, "That's what it's all about right there -- just to see that young kid and that old guy."
Rudinoff flew in from Delaware for the concert after his father-in-law told him how great the first Crossroads was in Dallas in 2004.
"John McLaughlin, Beck, Winter ... they're all bands I saw as a kid," he said, "and to get an opportunity to see them again all in one place is why I'm here. Now that I'm here, I'm so glad I didn't miss it. With the range of people playing, it's not just a blues fest."
Artists spanned the decades as well as genres.
As I wondered aloud whether Michael Schenker had been invited to play Crossroads, two nearby 20-somethings wondered who he is.
They were puzzled by McLaughlin's erratic jazz-fusion improvisation earlier but were familiar with John Mayer, who at 29 is coming into his own as a solid guitarist, not just the voice behind sappy songs like "Your Body Is a Wonderland."
Young New Jersey native Robert Randolph gave a fresh take on pedal steel guitar with a joyous southern church vibe as he happily rocked in his seat, smiled and chewed gum.
The older guard then took over as Cray's somewhat soothing set was revived by Vaughan's takes on tunes by his little brother Stevie Ray and Lonnie Brooks, and Hubert Sumlin took fans back to his Howlin' Wolf roots with "Killing Floor."
Fans jumped to their feet to greet the legendary King, who rested his plump frame on a chair, joked about forgetting lyrics at age 81 and got down and dirty with "Rock Me Baby" and "The Thrill Is Gone."
Crossroads then got jump-jivey with Los Lobos' bilingual set and a little bit country with Gill and his great band as the backbone. Lee, the 5-time winner of Guitar Player magazine's Best Country Guitarist, sprung onstage and shredded it up with "Tear It Up" and "Country Boy."
"I can't do anything that fast," Crow said of Lee's speedy pickin' as she joined them for her hit "If It Makes You Happy." She then shared lyrics with Krauss on a special version of "Strong Enough," also featuring dobro master Jerry Douglas, and with Clapton on "Tulsa Time."
Crow also sweetly paired with Nelson for "On the Road Again" after the 74-year-old icon played a medley including "Crazy" and "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain."
A revolving stage kept the music marathon moving with little time lapses between, while three large video screens afforded fans close-up views of all the handiwork.
When Beck emerged with his own quartet, conversation changed from some concession stands running out of anything of substance to unknown Australian female bass guitarist Tal Wilkenselv, who at 20 years old more than held her own alongside one of the most influential guitarists ever. It was cool to see him share the stage and camera time with a young newcomer.
A phenomenal set to have to follow, Clapton capably did so with his band, including Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II, the latter having played a sit-down, funky blues session earlier in the day.
Following "Tell the Truth," "Why Does Love Got to Be So Bad" and "Queen of Spades," Clapton was joined by the Band's Robbie Robertson, looking and sounding good on Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" and "Further On Up the Road."
Clapton continued his long-anticipated performance next with Winwood, switching from keyboards to guitar for songs from their supergroup Blind Faith's lone album in 1969,
After Winwood, Clapton, Trucks and Bramhall II exchanged chops on "Cocaine" and "Crossroads;" Buddy Guy brought on the Chicago blues with his song "Man of Many Words."
The show closed on a high note, with Winter, Mayer, Cray, Sumlin and Vaughan joining Guy and Clapton for "Sweet Home Chicago," but then on an awkward low note as everyone left the stage without much of a "thank you" or "good night."
Clapton, other greats entertain at guitar festival
dmiller@dailyherald.com
Posted Sunday, July 29, 2007
Bill Murray, of all people, set the tone, for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival.
Before a sizable crowd of early arrivers, the all-day concert began a few minutes before noon Saturday at Toyota Park with the stage slowly revolving to reveal Murray holding a pick between his lips and a guitar slung around his back.
“Good morning,” the emcee said. “No longer is Chicago the home of the blues. It is now Bridgeview, Illinois.”
Murray launched into “Gloria” by Chicago's The Shadows of Knight. As you might expect, it was a rough version to say the least, until Clapton joined the comedian and amped the song into a credible and fun kickoff to an array of guitar virtuosity by more than 20 artists.
Clapton stuck around to introduce Sonny Landreth, and returned to the stage to join the Louisiana native. “I've been waiting a long time for this,” Landreth said. Clapton backed him until Landreth stepped back, allowing Clapton to solo on Landreth's “Hell at Home.” The collaboration received the first big cheer of the day.
Sparks flew when young-but-experienced blues man Derek Trucks was joined by his wife, Susan Tedeschi, a fine player in her own right. The set was just heating up as Johnny Winter ambled on stage with Trucks. Winter was escorted to a chair, then covered “Highway 61 Revisted” with authority. Winter drew a wide smile from Trucks when the white-haired veteran inserted some Dylanesque phrasing. The song achieved lift off by its end and drew a standing ovation.
B.B. King attracted a standing ovation just for taking the stage. Backed by Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughn and Hubert Sumlin, the 81-year-old King played three songs while sitting, all the while dancing in his chair. The King of the Blues closed with “The Thrill Is Gone” and made Lucille sing sweetly as the song closed. Clapton enjoyed the set from the wings, and King made clear the admiration is mutual, lavishly praising Clapton for his good work.
Profits from the concert will benefit The Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a treatment and education facility founded in 1998 by Clapton for the chemically dependent. In a time when fans are asked to pay ridiculously-high prices to see their favorite acts, this $90 ticket was a steal to see many of the best guitarists in the world. That the money went to a good cause was a bonus.
John Mayer, who called himself “the new guy,” turned in a strong set as he continued paying his dues to the blues club.
A revitalized Vince Gill first brought up Albert Lee, then Sheryl Crow, who, after singing “If It Makes You Happy,” invited up Alison Krauss for “Strong Enough.” Then Crow introduced Clapton, who shared the microphone with a countrified Crow on “Living In Tulsa Time.”
Willie Nelson joined Gill's crew for a short set peppered with “Crazy,” and he flashed some fast playing of his own on his beat-up acoustic guitar.
“It's a pleasure to be here with all these great pickers,” said Nelson, who then called out Crow for a crowd-pleasing “On The Road Again.”
Jeff Beck turned up the volume and the jaw-dropping virtuosity. It was obvious he came to play before his peers and a sold-out stadium of 28,000.
His piercing, clean notes alternately cut through and washed over the crowd.
After he was done, Beck triumphantly raised his guitar over his head with both hands before cradling it to his body and gently laying it on the ground.
Clapton's own set took off a handful of songs into it when he and Trucks engaged each other and turned their guitars loose.
A gravely-voiced Robbie Robertson made a rare concert appearance and paid tribute to Bo Diddley with Clapton on “Who Do You Love?”
Steve Winwood joined Clapton and eventually stepped away from the keyboard and held his own on guitar. Clapton's set concluded on a high note with a solo-laden “Cocaine” and pumped-up “Crossroads.”
Leave it to Buddy Guy to close a blues-dominated show on his home turf. The showman ended 11 hours of music with an all-star jam than included “Sweet Home Chicago.”
Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton perform at the Crossroads Guitar Festival Saturday. (Brett Nadal/Daily Herald)